Chrono Key
by Tariyen Fel
Summary: After Lavos was defeated, all seemed well, until a new terror threatened Guardia. Crono had just stopped a Mystic army from destroying a town, but is now believed to be a Mystic spy! Chapter 7 up.
1. Zeal... Alive?

Magus, Zeal, Schala, Crono, Marle, Lucca, Frog/Glenn, Ayla, Robo,  
the town, era, and villain names are copyrighted by Squaresoft Co.  
All others are my own work, unless otherwise stated.  
  
This is my first fanfic, so I chose Chrono Trigger, seeing that I've  
beaten this game like 1500 times. :P I hope you enjoy. Most of the people,  
events, and all the main characters are from Chrono Trigger, and therefore  
copyrighted by Squaresoft Co. and any other companies affiliated with  
Chrono Trigger.  
  
  
Chapter 1: Magus in 2300 AD  
  
  
A figure in a cloak, vest, leggings, and brown boots stood in front of the doorway  
to a derelict, ancient building. It was different, it collided with the now happy outlook of the  
future. The figure steps through the doorway, and his face is illuminated by the soft light of  
the torches that still burn inside, as though by magic. His pale face showed no surprise, only  
interest in the building. His blue hair was caught by a wind that blew in through the open door,  
and he thought he could hear a voice.  
  
"Janus! Janus!" The voice echoed on through the corridors.  
"Schala? Schala! Where are you?" Magus called out into the darkness. The voice  
continued on. Magus cautiously walked down the corridor, pulling out his Scythe and holding  
it loosely in his gloved hands. Every now and again he would call out, only to be answered by  
the same haunting voice.  
  
"Janus! Janus!"  
  
"Schala! I'm coming!" Suddenly, the voice's tone changed.  
  
"Janus! Help!" Magus's hands gripped the cold handle of his scythe harder, and he  
began flying down each corridor he came to, yelling out for his sister.  
  
"Schala! Hold on, I can hear you! I'm coming!"  
  
"Janus! Help me! I need your help! Help me, please! Janus!"  
  
"Schala! I'm coming!" He finally came into a dark room. It was huge, and there was a  
shaft of moonlight from a hole in the roof, lighting up a chair with soft, silver light. A figure dressed  
in elaborate robes with long, soft blue hair was sitting there, gripping the handles tightly. Magus stepped  
towards the throne cautiously. The voice seemed to be coming from the figure. When Magus was only  
a few feet away, the voice stopped. An entirely different voice spoke up. It sounded familiar to the wizard.  
  
"Well... well... well... So my prodigal son has returned to me..." The figure moved its head into  
the light, showing her face. It was perfectly shaped and almost flawless, save for a scar down the exact  
middle of her face, cutting from the base of her hair down to her chin. She looked just like...  
  
"Zeal! I thought we'd finished you off with Lavos! You bitch, what have you done with Schala?"  
  
She put on a mock grimace. "Now, now, Janus, is that any way to talk to your mother?"  
  
Magus tightened his grip on his scythe even more, and he yelled out, "I'll ask again, what did you do  
to my sister?"  
  
She gives out a low, sinister chuckle, which erupts into almost maniacal laughter. Magus takes  
one step back and brings his weapon to battle stance. She stops laughing, then stands up from her throne. She  
starts walking towards Magus, saying, "I wasn't joking when I said I would have immortality in Lavos..."  
Magus took two more steps back from the approaching Queen. "I have done nothing to your precious Schala.  
There is no Schala. She is a part of me. As you will be soon. Do not be afraid. Come closer..."  
Magus, with a cry, struck out at Zeal, who grabs the scythe, with one swift movement snapped it in half, then  
grabbed Magus by the throat. She held him high as he clutched at the fair hands at his neck, which were slowly  
squeezing the life out of him. "I have now mastered my own immortality... and you will share in it!"  
Magus took one hand, and threw it down in what seemed to Queen Zeal as a futile effort to hit her.  
"Resist, and it will be more painful! Resign yourself to your fate! It is not so bad..."  
  
She opened her mouth, and Magus's mouth opened as if forced. A strange blue smoke began to come  
out of Magus's mouth and into Zeal's. She began to look more beautiful, and the scar on her forehead began to  
disappear. Just then, a black hole appeared behind her and she lost her grip on Magus. She let go and was sucked into  
the portal, and Magus crumpled up into the ground. His blue hair was now streaked with white, and his face creased  
heavily. He opened his eyes.  
  
There was a manical laugh, and then the disembodied voice of Zeal rang out in the throne room of the  
Zeal Palace, "You cannot escape your fate! Soon, I will have true immortality! You cannot stop me! I can get this  
immortality from anyone! You're friends are not safe either! I will destroy you all! Revenge and life shall be mine!"  
The voice echoed out with continuous laughter, and Magus, getting up, began to hobble out of the Palace,  
feeling as if part of his life was taken away.  
  
As he left, he noticed the landscape was changed. Green grass was now black dust, and the cities were  
ruins. The sky was dark, and thunder and lightning pierced the air. Something had changed, and he felt he knew what it  
was. And that he had to hurry. 


	2. The Barren Land Called Guardia.

Again, all Chrono Trigger characters and Names belong to Squaresoft Co.  
and its affiliates in making this game.  
  
Chapter 2: Crono and Marle in 1000 AD  
  
"Crono. It's time to wake up! Crono. Crono, get out of bed this instant!" Crono's  
eyes flew open and he sat up abrubtly. He hated that dream. It was still night, and it took him a few seconds to  
register his surroundings. He saw the balloons' remains, then sighed as he lay back down. He remembered  
it clearly now. They had won, and Marle was getting a new bell named after herself in her honor.  
She held the balloons, then strangely, she was picked up off of the ground. He tried to pull her  
back down to earth, and ended up being carried away himself. The were stuck in the air, half of themselves  
marveling at the beautiful, tiny world below them, the other half frightened on the verge of wetting their  
pants and wondering if they'll ever land.  
  
They slowly began to descend to a little island, way west of Guardia. They finally felt safe, but then  
the balloons got caught in the highest branches of a giant tree. They smashed into the foliage, and ended up standing on  
a particularly small branch with only the aid of the balloons keeping them up. Crono, who of course was closest to  
the ground, tried to climb down and help Marle climb down at the same time. Then the balloons burst. With no  
aid to keep them on the branches, they started to fall. They must have hit every single branch in that tree when they finally  
landed on the soft grass at the base of the trees, unconscious.  
  
Marle uttered a moan, and she began to wake up as well as Crono sat up again. As she got up, she looked  
at the relieved warrior's green eyes, and looked around. Both of them were a mess, covered with leaves, tree sap, and  
bits of bark. She slowly stood up and began to survey her surroundings. Forest, grass, sand, water. Where were they now?  
  
"Crono. Where are we?" She asked in her soft, clear voice as she began picking bark out of her red-orange hair.  
He shrugged, and then got up as well.  
  
"My guess could be that we're on an island." He answered with his still slightly childish voice.  
  
"How would you know?"  
  
"I saw the other end as we came in. This place is surrounded by water."  
  
"So that's it then. An island." Marle gazed out to the water, into the direction she hoped Truce was. "Do you think  
there's anyone here?"  
  
"Maybe, but we won't get far without sleep. You took a beating in that fall, maybe you should just lie down and rest."  
  
She glanced at him with her warm, blue-green eyes in an almost amused expression. "This is a first. It's usually me  
convincing you to take a break once in a while." Crono grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head at this. He then  
knelt down and pulled out two scarves he'd been holding on him ever since they were in the Dark Ages. He rolled them up  
into little pillows, and gave one to Marle to use as her pillow. He laid his head down, with a slight wince, and fell asleep.  
Marle stayed up a little longer, staring at the ocean, before falling asleep as well. The night was warm, yet both felt a cold  
premonition.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
When Marle awoke, she noticed Crono had already started a fire. Lucca, that little pyro, taught him how to on the  
Mountain of Woe. Marle shook her head and giggled to herself while remembering Crono's first attempts. First, he dropped  
the sticks into the snow when they caught, then he got Lucca's sleeve on fire, and then he put in the wrong tinder, so the pile  
wouldn't light up. He had to go look for more while Lucca used Fire1 to light the mess magically. "He's hopeless." She'd said.  
She wondered what Lucca would be doing now. Hopefully, she was coming up with some way to find them. She looked up,  
and notice Crono was gone. She quickly stood up, and looked around.  
  
"Hey Marle!" Crono jumped out at her from behind holding apples and pears. She spun around as her breathing  
and heart had quickened, then she put her hand to her chest while her breathing slowed.  
  
"Crono... don't EVER do that again!"  
  
He had a worried expression. "Gee, sorry, Marle. I just went off to find food and decided to surprise you."  
  
Marle waved her hand over the blooming bonfire. "THAT was surprise enough." She giggled into her hand, then  
sat down by the fire. "So, what's on the menu for today, Royal Chef?"  
  
Crono began to imitate the AD 600 Guardia Castle's Royal Chef as he held up the fruit and placed a few on a small  
metal pan on the fire that he had pulled out from his pack. "Today's special is fried fruit, then fruit on fruit, then fruit sandwiches,  
then fruit for desert." The both had a laugh over this, then Marle took one of the pears from its place on the cooking pan and  
bit into it. Pears had been her favorite since Glenn had picked a few out for her as they left his home in 600 AD. Crono took  
an apple and took a huge bite out of it. Marle sighed at him, he was such a pig when it came to food. At least he never spoke  
with his mouth full.  
  
When they had finished their meal Marle doused the fire, and they picked up their things and walked into the forest.  
There seemed no end to the forest, and when they arrived at the other side, they had found no sign of anyone but themselves  
on the island. They had just turned around to go back into the forest when Crono suddenly pointed at Marle.  
  
"You DO know you're glowing, right?" Marle quickly reached into her clothing and pulled out her pendant. It was a  
treasure family heirloom, and it seemed to glow whenever a warp gate was nearby or when something was happening to Guardia's  
timeline. It was now emitting a strong, turquiose light.  
  
"HOLY-" There was a huge shockwave that flew from the west of them at great speed, leaving everything behind it  
desolate and black. The shockwave was like a ripple, a tear, in the air itself, and when it came up to the two heroes, the patch of  
land they were standing on did not change, but the rest of the island was reduced to barren desert. Apparently, the pendant could  
protect them against changes in time. Crono and Marle looked at the dead landscape from inside each others' arms. Then they  
looked at each other, blushed, and pushed each other away. After a moment Crono looked up, "What could have happened?  
I thought we had defeated Lavos!"  
  
"I don't know, but I hope everyone in Truce is okay. Look, the sea's dried up, we can now walk to Guardia!"  
  
" I don't think that would be such a good idea, Marle. We don't know where Truce really is, and we don't know if it is still  
even there! Marle!" Crono tried to grab her arm to keep her from running across the barren seabed, but she twisted out of his grasp.  
He followed her, and they saw a black portal open up in front of them. Out stepped Magus, unrecognized at first because of his aged  
look.  
  
"Crono... Marle... Zeal's alive." 


	3. The Scientist and Her Pet Machine.

Again, all Chrono Trigger characters and Names belong to Squaresoft Co.  
and its affiliates in making this game.  
  
Chapter 3: Lucca in 1000 AD  
  
"Damn it, that wasn't the right wire!" Lucca, leaning over the side of Epoch's cockpit,  
"fine-tuning" the wires, as the purple-haired scientist called it. Epoch, apparently not liking the  
attention to its wires, gave out a series of low beeps and a shrill whistle. "I still don't know why  
Balthasar decided to give you a personality. And quiet down! I know what I'm doing!"  
  
Epoch was, essentially, a living time-hopping car... with wings. They had gained Epoch  
from 2300 AD, in the Keeper's Dome at the base of Death Peak after charging Marle's pendant and  
opening the door to Balthasar's workplace and hanger. Epoch was a vehicle with a mind of its own.  
It had the ability to communicate in beeps, whistles, and whirrs, and the only thing stranger than the  
way Epoch talks was that Lucca, as well as Robo, could actually understand it. Epoch gained the  
ability to fly after Dalton, from 12,000 BC, commandeered it and modified it to his purposes. Epoch  
didn't like this and was very relieved to have the weapons systems removed from it. Lucca was just  
finishing up rewiring the controls.  
  
"Okay, okay, Epoch! I'll give you a free oil job if you just stay quiet for one minute! Geez!"  
Lucca quickly got out of the cockpit, and started walking around the room gathering papers and tools.  
her foot got caught in a wire and she fell onto the dirty floor, getting dust all over her leather vest and skirt.  
She got up, straightened herself out, then proceeded to pick up all the scattered things. She walked back  
to the time travelling car and threw all the junk she was holkding in, then climbed in herself. She noticed  
a dashboard had stopped functioning after a couple of wires short-circuited earlier. She used a screwdriver  
to take out the dashboard, then used her pliers and solder, along with a very complicated map of Epoch's  
wiring she picked up from Balthesar before they left, to begin work on the shot wires.  
  
A few minutes later, Lucca was wishing that she'd worn her gloves before working on this. every  
other tweak she did sent up a shower of sparks onto her hands and into her glasses. "Damn it, Epoch, gimme  
a break here! I'm doing this as carefully as possible!" Epoch gave a few whistles and Lucca shook her head. "Look,  
the wiring is shot here, and if you don't tone that voltage, I'm gonna get fried before I sort out this mess called a  
control panel!" Epoch beeped a few times, then remained silent. Lucca continued working, this time, thankfully, without  
all those sparks in her face. "Lessee what we have here... green to red... then red to purple with a cutoff to blue... let's  
try it- SHIT!" There was a small explosion, and lucca was knocked into the back of the cockpit, her face covered with  
black, burned dust.  
  
"Okay, that scratches the control panel for time-travel. I can fix that later, now that you're ready to fly, lets-"  
Lucca looks around after clearing off her glasses and realizes her house is gone, and they were sitting on a barren landscape.  
The ruins of a castle could be seen in the background. "What happened here??? Come on, Epoch!" Lucca placed her hand  
on a pad near the control joystick. Epoch started up, then Lucca punched three buttons on an alpha/numeric keypad just under  
the hand pad. The wings at the side of Epoch swung out with a swoosh, and Epoch hovered into the air. Gripping the joystick,  
Lucca eased Epoch higher into the sky.  
  
Epoch gave out a series of clicks and beeps, then a short low whistle. "I don't know where Crono and Marle could be!"  
Lucca said, "I was fixing you so- Wait, there they are!" She slammed on the gas and tipped the joystick to her right towards the  
three figures she saw in the lifeless sea bed. She flicked down her Sight Scope over her left eye and checked to make sure. It  
confirmed the presence of Crono, Marle... and Magus.  
  
(What's Magus doing here? I thought he was gone for good, and hello! What's this?) Lucca thought as she trained  
her Scope onto the new figure making its way out of the open portal behind Magus. "Oh, it's Robo! Hurry, Epoch!" 


	4. Robo's New Mission

Again, all Chrono Trigger characters and Names belong to Squaresoft Co.  
and its affiliates in making this game.  
  
Chapter 4: Robo in 1000 AD  
  
"OK, so what you're saying is, you found Robo wandering around the Black Omen  
screaming out in digital gibberish?" Lucca and the Epoch had landed next to the other four already  
and Lucca was currently trying to fix a badly damaged Robo's wires. With the limited equipment  
the young scientist had on her, this wasn't very easy. Every few seconds sparks would fly into the air.  
  
"Yes. He kept yelling 'All hail Queen Zeal. The mightiest of them all.'" Magus put his arm on his  
hand, and his chin in his free hand, and gazed upon the barren earth thoughtfully. "Did she have anything to  
do with this?"  
  
"Zeal's alive... and somehow did this to Guardia?" Crono put his head in his hands as well,  
and looked at the barren ground in front of him. "Last time we fought against her, she didn't have any  
powers like that."  
  
"ROBO!" Lucca had just finished rewiring Robo, who bolted up, smacking Lucca away,  
and started going insane. He stood up, and started screeching some sort of electronic sound, and then all his  
armor plates projected, letting steam leave his body with a -whoosh-.  
  
"PROMETHEUS MODEL RX-74 MODE PROGRAMMING ONLINE NOW."  
  
"The hell? Robo, that's not even your model number!" Lucca walks up to Robo. "Ok, I think you're  
having a slight short-circuit... I'm going to fix this quickly..." Robo looks at her quietly, then raises a fist at her.  
"Robo, what th-" His fist flew out, hit her square in the mouth, and flung her backward. The fist was pulled  
back into his arm by a chain.  
  
"MISSION COMPLETE. NEW MISSION ACCEPTED. MC-112 CIRCUIT ENABLED.  
OBJECTIVES: DESTROY HUMANS USING KNOWLEDGE GAINED." Robo's armor plates projected again,  
and electricity struck everyone. Lucca, Magus, and Marle convulsed from the electric shocks, but Crono was  
the only one not being seriously hurt by the electricity. He pulled out his sword, and rushed at Robo.  
  
"Robo... I don't care if you were my friend before! You attack my friends, I'll hurt you too!" Just as he  
was about to impale the renegade machine, Robo stopped attacking the other three, pointed his fist at Crono, and his  
fist flew out and was pulled back in rapidly. Robo's uzzi punch knocked Crono out of the sky and onto his back  
unconscious, blood trailing from his nose and the corner of his mouth. Marle stood up, and shot several arrows  
at Robo. Many bounced off of the tan armor, but one found its mark just between two plates on his chest  
Robo begans sparking.  
  
"DAMAGE LEVEL 41%! PASSIVE REPAIR MODE ACTIVATED." Robo shot his fist at Marle,  
and she went down. He then started spinning around, shooting off lasers in every direction. they all missed, but everyone  
still conscious stayed down. Robo then stopped, seeming to be turned off. Lucca stood up and began scratching her  
head, and wiped the blood from her.  
  
"How the heck did this guy short circuit like that?" Lucca pulled out her tonics, and then proceeded to try to  
heal Crono and Marle. The moment she got near Robo, however, Robo's eyes lit right back up, and he then tackled Lucca  
right in the ribs. Robo then bolted for the still open portal, and as he dashed into it, it closed up.  
  
Magus looked at the still forms of his allies. He picked up the discarded tonics, rubbed them on the unconscious' foreheads,  
and waited for them to wake up. Crono was the first one to come to.  
  
"That is one dead robot." 


	5. Another Enemy Shows His Face.

Again, all Chrono Trigger characters and Names belong to Squaresoft Co.  
and its affiliates in making this game. The new character, however, doesn't.  
  
Chapter 5: Start of the Journey  
  
Marle woke next, and she sat up, resting on one hand, as she felt her cut lip. She wimpered and stood up quickly. She looked at Chrono, Magus, and the now stirring Lucca. She looked around her, and didn't see any sign of Robo. "Where did Robo go?"  
  
"Robo went through the time portal. It closed right after he went through." Magus turned and walked a few steps away from the group, looking at the horizon, the wind across the barren landscape blowing his cape back. He stared out at the horizon, in deep thought. Marle lowers her head, then she looks up at Magus.  
  
"But, can't you just open up a new portal?"  
  
Magus shakes his head. "I can only control existing, unsealed portals. And that portal, to the future, is now sealed. I won't be able to open it again."  
  
Marle looks down, slightly depressed, and then looks at Lucca. "But we still have Epoch, right?"  
  
Lucca looks at the flying car, covered with scorch marks from the lasers and electricity. "I hope so. Epoch, if you're still functional, tell us a joke!" After a few minutes, Epock let loose a series of clicks, whirrs, beeps, then one long whistle. Lucca collapsed on the ground laughing.  
  
"What's so funny?" Crono looks looks up at Lucca and Marle from his sitting position.  
  
"You wouldn't understand." Lucca picks herself off of the ground and walks to the Epoch. "I can fix his time-travelling device in a few minutes. then we could track down Robo and find out why he went berserk, or what happened."  
  
"Lucca, you're supposed to be the smart one." Crono stands up.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
Crono sighs. "Did you listen to anythng Robo had yelled out? Prometheus? Mission?"  
  
Lucca's eyes widen. "Prometheus... That's what Mother Computer and Atrophos had called him! And they said his mission was to gather information on the human race..." Lucca shook her head. "We'll have to stop him!"  
  
"No, we don't! Why don't we just stay here and let other people take care of it?" Crono sits down heavily. "I barely got a chance to see my folks before being carred away by balloons- BALLOONS- and now Robo goes haywire and we have to go again! I can't stand this!"  
  
"But there are no other people here! Look around you! This place is a wasteland, what do you think you're going to do here?" Crono was silent, and Lucca continued. "Besides, we have Magus with us, and he can help us out if-"  
  
"And that really makes me feel better."  
  
"Crono, why do you always have to give Magus such a hard time?"  
  
"Lucca, if you would see past your goo-goo eyes for him for one moment you'd realize 'Oh, this guy tried to kill us!' Did you forget that he'd have killed us when he had the chance?" Crono crosses his arms, looking at the dumbfounded girl in front of him.  
  
"Wha- What are you talking about?" Lucca looks at Crono, and Marle looks at one to another in a slight confusion.  
  
"You don't think I've noticed, Lucca?" Crono laughs out loud. "It wasn't hard to see you'd developed a crush on him. Everytime you look at him you have some sort of clouded look in your eyes. It's fine by me, but don't let that make you forget what a monster he really is."  
  
After a few moments, Lucca walks up to Crono and slaps him across the face, leaving his cheek red. "Don't you dare talk about any more of our friends like that! Magus helped us with Lavos, and he put his life on the line for us, and you just sit here and insult him!"  
  
Crono looks at Lucca with a sort of stunned expression, then he becomes angry again. "He didn't do any of that for us! He did it for Schala! everything he's done is for Schala, he doesn't give a rat's ass for us!" Lucca and Crono stare at each other, anger and frustration in their eyes. "But go ahead, go with your boyfriend. It doesn't matter to me, if you're really stupid enough to believe he really cares for us."  
  
After a few minutes, Lucca turns away from him and walks to Epoch, as Marle glares at Crono angrily. "Crono, why did you do that? Magus cares for us, or he wouldn't have come to us to warn us about Zeal!"  
  
Crono stares at the ground darkly, and Magus walks up to him. "The feeling was mutual, I'm sure. But, what would you gain just by staying here?" Crono's glare doesn't change, and Magus continues, "You are being selfish yourself. You have nothing here, yet you will not help your friends?" Magus walks away, and Crono looks up.  
  
"What happened to you? Did time-traveling get too tough you you, tough guy?" Magus stops, but doesn't do anything else.  
  
"Zeal did something to me, and I feel as if a part of my life was ripped from within me. I do not remember many events that have happened in the past anymore... and... I feel no more emotions..." Magus puts his hand to his head, as Crono's gaze changes completely.  
  
"What could she have done to you to make that happen?" Crono stands up just as Lucca called out.  
  
"Hey, I think I got it working! And with the new seat addition, we can fit up to five people now!" Lucca starts waving them over, apparently having decided to forgive Crono. As Crono was about to get into the cockpit Lucca pulled him out. "You sit on the tail." Sighing, Crono walked to the back of Epoch and sat on a makeshift seat facing backwards. Apparently, Lucca doesn't forgive that easily. Lucca calls out from the front. "Okay! I'm going to start the time travel now!"  
  
"I'm afraid I cannot let you do that." A cloaked figure fell out of the air and landed on Epoch. He wore a dark blue cape, black chest and leg armor, dark blue boots, and a blood red shirt under his armor. His ear-length grey hair flew slightly in the wind as his purple eyes fixed on the four time-travelers. "You will disrupt my plans if you do. So... to each his own!" He points at Crono, who had just gotten out of his seat, and he was thrown through a portal that just opened up behind him. The portal sealed instantly. The other three were up in a heart beat, but they were knocked away by a burst of magic from the intruder. He then pointed at Lucca and then Marle, who shared the same fate as Crono. Then, he turned to Magus. "Zeal was wrong. You are the only source that can give her immortality. You will come with me!" He then materialized next to Magus, and he prepared to grab Magus as the wizard lets a blazing fire spell erupt into the other one's face. Magus prepared to follow up the attack, but without his scythe, he could do no real damage to the enemy wizard. As Magus attacked with an ice attack, the other wizard materialized a maul in his hands, then slammed Magus in the back of the head after smashing the ice away. Magus fell to the ground with a groan. After dematerializing the hammer, the other wizard picked up Magus, heaved him over his shoulder, and stepped backward into a portal.  
  
Epoch whistled and clicked, then fell silent as the portal instantly sealed. 


	6. Crono... Mystic Sympathizer?

Again, all Chrono Trigger characters and Names belong to Squaresoft Co.  
and its affiliates in making this game. The new character, however, doesn't.  
  
Chapter 6: Chrono in ???  
  
"Is he still alive?"  
  
"I doubt it."  
  
(Wha? Where am I?)  
  
"Did you check?"  
  
"Why? He's Mystic bait anyway. I say we loot him and leave."  
  
(Who is that?)  
  
"Look at you! You're a knight! You can't just leave him!"  
  
"I'm a former knight. There's a difference."  
  
(Ugh! I feel like I was torn apart and put back together with hot needles and barbed wire!) Crono opens his eyes and turns himslef over, to look at a young woman and man looking at him. The woman had shoulder-length blond hair and was wearing a purple shirt, a brown leather vest, leather pants, and black, metal-toed boots. The man was wearing an eye-patch, the strap hidden under his bushy black hair. He had on a blue shirt, with silver armor over his chest, arms, and legs. The man reached a hand towards Crono's sword, and Crono somersaulted bac, grabbing his Rainbow from its sheathe. He landed on his feet, facing the man, his sword at the side of his face, curving down. "What the hell are you doing? Who are you?"  
  
The other man stopped for a moment, surprised, then stood straight up. He reached for his sword, but the woman placed her hand on his shoulder. She looked at Crono. "We were thinking the same for you." Her voice was stern, yet gentle at the same time.  
  
Crono put his sword back in its scabbard, and stood straight up. "My name is Crono. That should be good enough for you. Now, your names?"  
  
Eyepatch smiled slightly. "You can call me Excalibur."  
  
The woman rolled her eyes as she glanced at Excalibur. Her eyes then glided over to Crono. "You can call me Mara."  
  
Crono looked around him. The forest, the Hetakes and Rolies hiding in the forest shadows. He knew this time very well. He wasn't sure of the place, though. It wasn't like the Guardia forest he knew, or even the Cursed Woods where Glenn lived. "Where is this place?"  
  
Mara and Excalibur look at each other. Excalibur actually laughed. He turned to the boy with a superior look in his eye. "Well, you managed to get in here and get yourself knocked out, and you still don't know where you are? You, boy, are a complete melonhead."  
  
"What'd you just say?"  
  
"You're a moron, child!" Excalibur laughed out loud. "You're in the Magin Forest!"  
  
"How do I get to Truce from here?"  
  
Excalibur looked at Mara, and then he burst out laughing again. "What the hell is Truce? You are even more of an airhead than I first thought!"  
  
Mara interceded, whispering into Excalibur's ear. They were apparently at least partners. She turned to Crono. "You must be suffering from amnesia and hallucinating. This Truce you talked about doesn't exist. You are in the Magin forest, in the country of Maji."  
  
Crono looked bewildered at them both. 'Maji'? 'Magin Forest'? He plopped into a sitting position, holding his head in one hand and leaning on his other. Mara took a step toward him, anticipating his passing out. He stood up again, and looked at one, then the other. "I think I need to go to an inn."  
  
Excalibur laughs again.  
  
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"So, what do you think? He's probably a Mystic spy."  
  
"So, you were kidding about that 'amnesia' crap?"  
  
(What the hell were they talking about?)  
  
"Did you catch his hair? His weapon? It reminded me of Blade."  
  
"Slash, you mean."  
  
(Slash? What could I have in common with that demon?)  
  
"Whatever. I say we turn him in."  
  
"But what if we are wrong, and he isn't a Mystic spy?"  
  
"That won't weigh heavily on my conscience."  
  
(The hell? I'm not spy!) Crono had been awake, listening to every word of Mara's and Excalibur's conversation. Needless to say, he was scared. A lot. If everyone around here was like this, Crono would be in deep shit soon. He slowly got up, and quietly left the room, went down the stairs, and walked outside. The night air in the unfamiliar town coaxed goosebumps onto Crono's skin. He should have remembered to bring a sweater with him on his last journey. He walked through the town, which was shut up for the night, all the doors and windows tightly shut. Wierd.  
  
There were footsteps from the road behind him. Crono turned, and he saw one of the most horrifying sights he'd ever seen, almost as terrible as Lavos's true self. Zombies, half-decayed remains of soldiers! Coming up the street! Flanked by skeletons, and led by... a yellow Ozzie? What were they doing?  
  
"Zombies, start on the buildings! They have to fall soon! Decadents, after that runt in the street!" The zombies started scratching at pounding the walls of the buildings, some smashing in a few windows. The skeletons started after Crono, their rusty spears pointed at him. Crono was used to handling these losers.  
  
"Feel the shock!" Crono spread his arms out, and lightning struc kout from within him, and completely destroyed the skeletons. The zombies, provoked by the attack, turned on the young boy, who had already pulled out his sword. Luckily, the zombies were too used to marching in lines, and Crono took his sword, scraped it along the ground, and swung it through the stone at the oncoming Mystics. A shockwave formed from the sparks, and it slammed into the undead warriors. Many toppled and fell, but there were still some left, and most of the fallen ones got back up again, missing many limbs. The sheer sight was horrible enough, they're faces missing patches, missing limbs, ragged clothes, ribs showing, really, SHOWING! And the stench made Crono want to pass out. They circled around him, moaning and reaching out at him. Crono forced himself to close his eyes, and he stuck his sword out in front of him and crouched down. He started spinning himself with his magic, and he spun so fast he hovered just inches above the ground and started to fly in a tight circle, cutting apart all of the zombies near him. Any that could still move, with legs or arms, recovered with a hideous, moaning cry. Crono looked around him almost helplessly. He slashed repeatedly, but he felt he had no choice. Thunder attacks didn't work against these things, and he couldn't just sit and slash at them. There were zombies with only a leg or an arm and no head trying to attack him! He had hoped to save his exhausting and draining Luminaire attack, that he wouldn't have to use it. With the still tens of zobies aroud him, Crono held his arms up, and he was gently lifted into the air, his garment ruffling with the levitation. Bright beams of light appeared under him, and they shined this way and that, constantly changing direction. Then, a giant explosion of holy thunder erupted, and bathed the whole dark town in pale yellow-green light. As the light dimmed again, the zombies were smoldering piles of ashes and scorched decay.  
  
The yellow Ozzie-like Mystic had been watching from a safe distance, and seeing his minions defeated, retreated quickly with a shrill scream. Crono has half glad that it was over, and half sickened by the whole affair. He quietly walked over to an alley opening, holding his mouth, and retched all over the dirty cobbles. He realized he still had his sword in his hands, covered with decaying peices of zombie flesh. He picked up a clean peiece of cloth from one of the carcasses and cleaned the blade, then sheathed it.  
  
Walking out into the street, which was slowly gathering with people, he wondered... (Why is this time so diifferent? Where's Guardia? Truce? Who was that yellow blob over there?) He spotted Mara and Excalibur in the crowd, who then saw him as well. Crono lowered his head, his eyes wide, and tried to push his way through the crowd. He got to the edge of town, but felt a gloved hand punch the back of his head.  
  
Crono sprawled against the ground, and there was a heavy boot placed on his back. Someone spoke in a low, dangerous voice. "So, you aren't a spy. You're a soldier for the Mystics."  
  
"Mara, no! I'm not a spy or a soldier! I'm just a boy that wants to get home!"  
  
Excalibur grinds his foot into Crono's back, and the metal toe snags the shirt and scrapes the skin underneath. "Yeah, back to Trump's castle!"  
  
"Who?!"  
  
Excalibur pushes his foot harder on Crono's back, causing Crono to groan loudly in pain. "Don't play dumb, you pathetic Mystic sympathizer! What did they promise you? Money? Impunity?" He grinds his foot harder still, and draws blood as Crono groans louder. "Slaves? Huh? What?!? What did they promise you to get them on your side?!?!?"  
  
"I SWEAR! I have no clue who Trump is! GAAAAH!!!!  
  
"Shut up! I know you're on the Mystics' side! Why else would you destroy all those homes and those people on the street?!?!?"  
  
"People?!?! I was fighting for my life! Those zombies were going to tear me apart! HURK!"  
  
Excalibur had smashed his sword's scabbard across the back of Crono's head. Excalibur yells out at him, "I've had it with your lies! Who recruited you and why?!?!?! TELL US!"  
  
"I've told you alread-" "Enough!"  
  
With one more loud thud, Crono faintly feels his body being lifted up and slung over someone's shoulder before completely blacking out. 


	7. In the Dungeons - Amazing Grace

Again, all Chrono Trigger characters and Names belong to Squaresoft Co.  
and its affiliates in making this game.  
  
Chapter 7: Chrono in 600 AD  
  
He recognized this room all too well. It was too much like the courtroom he was first tried in. The judge looked the same, the chancellor looked the same, the lawyer looked the same, the freaking jury looked all the same, and he'd be damned if it wasn't the same frikkin' band playing that same funky music during the whole stupid trial. Right now, he just wanted to strangle someone. Maybe the guy that first came up with this sick idea of a courtroom.  
  
Crono was on trial, for being a Mystic sympathizer. How the heck he ended up being accused of it, he didn't know. All he knew was that the system was corrupt, and he would end up in the prison for three days before being executed.  
  
"We, the court of Maji, find the accused guilty as charged, and his sentence is execution within three days."  
  
See?  
  
The guards came up behind Crono, who had to stand and be silent throughout the whole "trial," and forcefully carried him out of the door amid the jeers and faces of the crowd. He got arrested for killing a few zombies? No one must have seen him, then, or else someone would have vouched for him. It didn't matter, he was still being led by rope towards the dungeon. He was brought before the warden, who checked his papers, and after authorizing the guards to lead the prisoner in, had two more appear and knock him out cold so he wouldn't be able to find his way out after being placed in his cell.  
  
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Crono awoke, amid bricks of cold granite and dim torchlight. This was the dungeon alright. He got up, and found he had a cup of water on top of a barrel waiting for him. He decided he wasn't thirsty, and he walked up to the bars, to see that all the other cells were filled with prisoners. The two guards in front of his cell were talking, but when one noticed Crono was listening, he moved away, and the other guard followed. Looking across the corridor, Crono saw a familiar face.  
  
"Glenn?"  
  
It was, indeed, the frog knight. Unfortunately, he was in a cell, too. The haggard frog looked up at Crono.  
  
"That be mine name. Who art thou?"  
  
"Glenn! It's me, Crono!"  
  
The frog looked closer at him. Then a dim flicker of recognition passed through his mind.  
  
"I hath ne'er seen thou before this moment... but, I dost feel like we hath met before."  
  
Crono groaned. The timeline must have shifted so much that Glenn didn't really remember him.  
  
"Glenn, why were you brought in here?"  
  
Glenn sighed. "I hath been imprisoned for the heinous crime of looking like a Mystic and being a spy. And of thou, Crono?"  
  
"Mystic supporter. I guess it hasn't changed that the people still don't like the Mystics."  
  
"Aye, they doth not."  
  
Crono settled back, onto a barrel by the gate. He looked at the seemingly flimsy bars. They should break with a sword strike or two. "Glenn... can you use your sword to break your bars?"  
  
"Nay, they doth taken mine acouterment and weapon."  
  
"Damnit... they did it with me too!" Crono leaned his head on the iron bars that covered his only escape from this horrible cage. "We can't get out of here, then..."  
  
They sat in silence for a long time. Tired of the silence, Crono felt he needed to do something to keep himself from going insane. He began to sing softly a song that formed in his mind. A hauntingly familiar tune.  
  
"Amazing grace... how sweet, the sound..." Glenn joined in. "That saved, a wretch, like me." The cells next to them joined in, and they sang louder. "I once, was lost, but now, am found. Was blind, but now, I see!" The rest of the prisoners soon started singing along with the second verse, and the whole dungeon was filled with the voices of the despairing prisoners, almost all of them wrongly sentenced, and the song offered some hope to the prisoners. "T'was grace, that taught, my heart to fear, and grace, my fears, relieved. I once, was deaf, but now, can hear. Was gone, but now, am home."  
  
"SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!" A guard came in waving his sword like a feather duster at all the cells. Crono felt empowered by the song, as well as slightly peeved, and challenged him.  
  
"Make me, moron! Oooooooh, that sentance had alliteration!"  
  
"That's consonance, and that wasn't even a- ooh! Were you mocking me?" The guard looked right at Crono from outside the cell. Crono brought himself to mimic the guard with a pompous air.  
  
"Ooh! were you mocking me? Ooh! I'm so dumb I can't tell if I'm being insulted or not! What does 'insulted' mean?"  
  
The guard shook violently. "I think your making fun of me, aren't you!?!?"  
  
"Oh, he's a bright one."  
  
"That's it!" The guard smashed down the cell door. "I'm gonna fix you good!"  
  
The guard didn't get a chance to do anything, because he'd just been hit with a bolt of lightning, and he crumpled down into a heap. Crono calmly walked out, and picked up the keys from around the guard's belt. He opened up Glenn's cell and swung the keys around on his index finger. "So, Glenn, you gonna make a break for it or free the other prisoners?"  
  
"Mine duty calleth that I free the downtrodden."  
  
Crono shook his head with an admiring grin. "That's the same old Glenn, all right." 


End file.
